January 22, 2009

We had a letter to the editor in the print edition the other day complaining about the big ears that editorial cartoonists put on President Obama. The writer felt we shouldn't make fun of the president until he does something to deserve it. Huh? Are you serious? Making fun of presidents is what we do. We make fun of the way they look. We make fun of what they do. We make fun of everything we can.

More important, we make fun of people with incredible, heart-stopping power and we do it better than anyone else in the news business. Our unofficial motto is: "A picture is worth a thousand laughs." That letter writer better find a sense of humor or it's going to be a very long, humorless eight years for him.

On another matter, we took down our Christmas tree the day before the inauguration. We were going to leave it up until the Saturday before the Superbowl just as an experiment. Well, the experiment is over and the results are in. Trying to hang on to that Christmas vibe doesn't work. In fact, leaving the tree up felt like it was holding us back, that we couldn't get on with our regular lives.

It's the Christmas tradition at our house. Every year we put our lives on hold for about a month starting around the first of December. We do something different, ideally, something with deeper meaning for around 30 days and then, after, say Jan. 6, the 12th day of Christmas, we take the tree down and get back to our routine, but our routine has changed ever so slightly and so, we think, have we. We take the lessons of Christmas with us for a few weeks, maybe for the rest of the year. It's as much a natural order as it is a spiritual one. Try to change it at your peril.

So, now the tree is packed away until next December and our thoughts turn to spring, baseball, golf and race cars. It won't be long now.

10 Comments

Daytona, Talladega, pitchers and catchers, The Masters, Easter, crocus, daffodils...I could go on. My father loves Christmas, I think it makes him a kid again, just young enough to hang in their with my brothers' kids, my dads two granddaughters. But his 83 years melt to 23 at the opening pitch on Opening Day. I wish I could bottle it for the moment after the last swing of the World Series.

Obama should be impeached for this. I wonder if the press will still cover for him after one of these animal that he is letting out of Guantanamo hit the US killing our innocent men women and children.

To L B: you first. Steve, I and many other intelligent people are concerned about freeing any terrorist only to have him (or her) strike again. The "detainees" are prisoners of war and should be treated as such but under the UCMJ. Only when Iraq and Afghanistan have freely elected and stable governments should these detainees be returned to them for justice. After all they killed civilians as well as soldiers. Are you a combat vet? How many graduate degrees have your earned? How many books have you written? How many books have you read (excluding comic books and People magazine)?

The closing of Guantanamo will end a dark chapter of american history.

Many of these prisoners were scooped up on foreign lands by bounty hunters. Many of these were never charged but held without evidence for seven years.

Maybe you don't care about human rights? Maybe you didn't take Abu Ghraib seriously? Well, most of the world does. This includes our own military leaders, former prosecutors assigned to Gitmo and our soldiers.

President Obama said it best, "The message that we are sending around the world is that the United States intends to prosecute the ongoing struggle against violence and terrorism and we are going to do so vigilantly, we are going to do so effectively, we are going to do so in a manner that is consistent with our values and our ideals."

Yes, LB, and by our magnanimous gesture more people will die. Our image will be polished but the death count will rise. All this can soon end. Abu Grahib is soon to be the new main prison and under total Iraqui control. It will renamed so as to remove its infamy as Saddam's torture palace. Send the detainees back to Iraq, even those captured by bounty hunters because they were not hunted down without reason. Are you so simplistic that you believe every detainee was not taken for cause? Do you have secret access to their files? With all your knowledge as to their innocence invite them to be your neighbors. Yup, right here in the New USA, right next door to what will become their favorite liberal! Remember, my comment included the protection of the UCMJ. NO torture, but containing their terrorist skills is a must.

I read every word Obama emits. When his words provide a positive
conclusion to this enmity, then I will consider them viable and not just jawboning. I have heard great promises, programs, ideas, opinions, etc. I am jaded by the scar tissue of disappointment. I leave Obama as blank until I see results which I can accept and not just words. You can cheer. Your cheers are based on hope so you paint him in bight colors. I hestiate because I think words alone will not work and their failure will result in a continued threat of violence and death. Meanwhile other members of our "leadership" move in the background to disarm us by continuing their gun-phobia and plots to take private arms away from those of us who want them. That issue caused an upheaval in 1993 and will do so again.